Deontay Wilder joined Andy Ruiz Jr. in raising their hands for a world heavyweight title shot, confusing the sport of boxing.
Despite the pair being sanctioned to face each other for a shot at the WBC champion Tyson Fury, the former titleholders pursued other avenues publicly.
Following the fallout that saw Fury’s undisputed heavyweight battle with Oleksandr Usyk collapse, Wilder and Ruiz announced respective interest in facing the pair.
Deontay Wilder wants an impossible Usyk shot
Wilder confirmed his desire to collide against WBA, IBF, and WBO ruler Usyk. At the same time, Ruiz threw his hat into the ring for Fury.
Why this happened during the peak time for their fight to happen is beyond comprehension. Not to mention that only Ruiz stands a shot of landing his wish.
Usyk has several mandatories to adhere to in his next three bouts. This leaves Wilder with zero chance of facing the Ukrainian.
Nonetheless, his manager Shelly Finkel told World Boxing News his charge is open to the clash.
“Deontay would accept a fight with Usyk immediately. That fight would be very easy to make,” stated Finkel when asked by WBN.
In theory, yes, it would. However, the WBA, IBF, and WBO would move to strip Usyk if he tried to fight Wilder.
Regarding Ruiz, the first-ever Mexican heavyweight champion jumped on the Fury bandwagon after Usyk talks disintegrated this week.
“The Usyk side pulled out of further negotiations as the Fury side never had enough [and wanted] to pull everything and all rights to their side,” Egis Klimas told Sky Sports.
“I don’t want to go into details as all negotiations were confidential. But I will tell you one thing, when a fighter doesn’t want to fight, he overprices himself. He knows that the fight won’t happen.
“They most likely forgot that Usyk is holding the majority of belts in the heavyweight division, and Tyson just has one.
“They claimed Tyson is a face and must have all the rights. But look at statistics on pay-per-view with Tyson vs Chisora and Usyk vs Chisora and then tell me who is who?”
Andy Ruiz Jr. chases Tyson Fury
Lets do this 🥊🇲🇽🇺🇸🇬🇧 pic.twitter.com/8b1JpKdIKL
— AndyRuizJr (@Andy_destroyer1) March 22, 2023
Previously, Usyk stated his frustrations at dealing with Fury’s demands.
He said: “The points for the agreement were sent to Fury’s side. The deadline is set. The clock is ticking. The ball is on ‘Greedy Belly’s side’ now.
“We did everything in our power to make it happen.”
Klimas added: “We bend enough to make this happen. Fury always wanted his way.
“We allowed it to some point, and now let’s see if “Gypsy King” is brave enough to take this fight. Sorry for us. He is not a King, just a gypsy.”
After the dust settled, Ruiz told Fury, “Let’s do this.”
It’s been weeks since Wilder and Ruiz mentioned each other despite Al Haymon booking several dates for the fight to happen in Las Vegas.
The latest one of May 20 at the MGM Grand still hangs in the balance.
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